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Dore Abbey

The church of Mary & St David in Kilpeck is part of the Ewyas Harold Group of 10 parishes, known as a benefice. The benefice is one of five comprising the Deanery of Abbeydore which contains 34 parish churches, stretching along the Golden Valley from Hay on Wye on the north to Kentchurch in the south. The local benefice is situated in an area of great and varied beauty, consisting of villages nestling in typical rolling Herefordshire countryside; some are in uplands where farms and dwellings are scattered, and churches may be found beside a farm, beside a former smithy and in one case directly beside a pub. One church is just over the border in Wales at Llangua, rural enough to be lit only by candles. Kilpeck itself has a village population of about 90, with other folk in the scattered farms spread over a wide area. The whole benefice has a population of about 2500. Because of the number of churches served by just one minister, assisted by other retired clergy and two lay readers, there is not a service in each church every week, other than at the centre of the benefice at Ewyas Harold, where there are also Methodist and Baptist churches, neither of which has a resident minister. Services for the month for the benefice are listed in the website www.achurchnearyou.com, and activities within the group are published in the monthly parish magazine, Good News.